Chuunin Selection Exams
by Rex Raptor
Summary: A few years after the current Naruto storyline, young genins from throughout the shinobi world are eager to prove their potential to become a chuunin in the Chuunin Selection Exams, this year being held in Konoha. My first fic, so be nice.
1. Chapter 1 Into the Forest

A few years after the current Naruto storyline, young genins (OCs) from throughout the shinobi world are eager to prove their potential to become a chuunin in the Chuunin Selection Exams, this year being held in Konoha.

Those who pass the first test make their way to the Forest of Death…

This is a fan fic based on an online RPG I began and took part in (in fact still taking part in) on a forum I frequent. Although I edited the RPG, and came up with the idea for it, _very_ substantial parts of it were written by my fellow forum members Shadow (who created and played the Sand team) and 343 (who created and controlled the Mist team). The Konoha team was my own creation. Mostly OCs. Reviews, opinions and comments would be very welcome.

**CHAPTER 1**

Anko finished explaining the rules of this second test to the genins who had been successful in passing the first test. She began to hand round the consent to them, some of whom were shocked or scared, while others were already pondering the best strategy to pass the test.

Ralfe, Kyo and Rina, a team of 15-year-olds from Konoha listened in surprise to the explanation of the rules.

'Holy cow', said Kyo, 'This is gonna be great.' Kyo was a tall boy, with blond spiky hair who wore a red jacket and clothes, and was the strongest fighter in the team. As usual, he remained full of energy and confidence.

'Look, ass, you have to take this test seriously, otherwise we're gonna get killed out there. We have to come up with a strategy.' said Ralfe, the team leader. Though not particularly strong, he possessed a quick mind and could come with plans fairly quickly. He retied his headband backwards around his head, over the beanie hat which he always wore.

'OK, whatever.' replied Kyo.

'I think we should listen to Ralfe, Kyo. He is a great strategist, and thats why Genma made him the leader of this team,' advised the third member of the team. Rina was a pretty girl with long, red hair and matching clothes. She was the least confident of the team. She had not really wanted to enter the exam, but her team mates had convinced her to do so.

'OK, I think I got a good plan.' said Ralfe.

He explained his plan, and the three of them headed into the forest.

……………………………………………………………………….

A grass cell stood by their gate, chuckling.

'Sweet, we get a free run at all these weaklings,' said Kroan, a strong young man, the leader of the team.

'Yeh, even if we don't pass this lame exam, we get to kick a bunch of rookies' asses,' chuckled Kai, a spider-like boy with black spiky hair and long, thin arms.

'Look, you idiots, this exam isn't going to be easy. But we'll pass for sure. After all I'm on this team,' said Akari, the only female member of the team.

'Whatever,' replied Kroan, 'I'm the leader of this team. Don't forget it.'

………………………………………….

Shadow walked up with his team to sign the forms. After signing they were sent to their entrance. Shadow was a blood-thirsty thirteen-year-old who had a troubled past. He talked little and trusted only one person – Gaara, Kazekage, his tutor and mentor.

"Alright! Let's get going!" Haru said bouncing around. Haru was a little annoying and didn't get on well with Shadow.

"Shut up..." Shadow shot an icy cold glance at him, "We must wait and be silent, like you will be if you don't shut your mouth..."

Soni just sat down waiting for their scroll to arrive. The most sensible member of the cell, who was completely infatuated with Shadow.

A group of Genin walked up to Shadow's team and started talking about how badly they were going to kill them when one suddenly went flying and Shadow stand there, his chakra shifting the sand and ingulfs the other two's bodies.

"Weaklings..."Shadow said as he walked into the forest with his team.

……………………………………………………………………..

Ralfe finished explaining his proposed strategy to Kyo and Rina.

'Sounds good', said Rina.

_'Ralfe came up with a strategy to cope with this test so quickly. His ability to adapt is incredible.'_ thought Rina in awe. She looked at Kyo. _'And Kyo is so strong. They're both such great shinobi. I'll never be able to match up to them'_

Ralfe noticed the worried look on Rina's face, but attributed it to nerves. Kyo looked around the groups of genin, trying to find a weak link - the team that would be the easiest to defeat.

…………………………….

Upon completing his consent form, Kira gathered the other two members of his team and turned in the three forms of consent. He received the scroll, and pocketed it until the exam started. Rukia immediately began formulating a plan.

"All right, here's the deal. We should either try to catch one of the other teams off guard by attacking them early, or we should follow a team and slowly grind down their endurance until the fifth day, when we will kill them and take their scroll. The first option has a higher rate of success, but the risks are also greater, especially if one of us gets wounded. The second option is safer, but victory is not guaranteed."

Kenpachi cleared his throat.

"I vote for the first plan, since the team we follow until the end may not have the scroll we need..."

Kira nodded.

"He's right. And I hate waiting around anyway..."

These were a team of genin from the Village of Mist. Kira, the leader, was an orphan who had been taken in by their Jounin leader. He had a special bloodline limit that he only used if he had to. Kenpachi, also an orphan was a great taijutsu specialist. He was by far the fastest member of the team. Rukia was a good strategist and genjutsu user, who often had to keep her team mates in line.

After entering the Forest, Kira's team jumped into one of the taller trees, with Kenpachi and Rukia keeping a careful lookout. Kira sat in a meditative pose, with his pupils moving underneath his closed eyelids. After a short while his eyes stopped moving and opened. He raised a hand and pointed to their left.

"There are two teams over there. One is from Konoha, and the other appears to be from the village of Rain."

He pointed to their right.

"There is a team from the grass in that direction, along with what feels like the remnants of another team...but i can't tell where they are from..."

Rukia grinned rather evilly.

"Opportunity knocks...but which door should we open?"

………………………………

Shadow's team headed to the tower, having taken the heaven scroll they needed from the team they had just buried.

"That was easy" Haru chimed.

"Shut up we have to get to the tower before some one finds us..." Shadow said between his teeth

………………………..

Kira's team cautiously made their way towards a Konoha team that appeared to be stocking up on food supplies. Kenpachi looked at Rukia, who nodded grimly. She made a series of hand seals.

_Illusion Harmony!_

Suddenly the three Genins began slowly raising their arms up.They all began yelling in pain, at which point Kenpachi darted in and hit each of them in the chest with a flat palm. They stopped yelling and started coughing up blood. Kenpachi began rustling through their pockets, looking for their scroll.

'_...They don't have one...perhaps they already lost it? No, they must have hidden it...Kessu...they're already dying from those hits to their sternums...they wouldn't even be able to tell me where it is...not that they would want to...'_

He and Kira quickly hid the bodies and had Rukia set up a protective illusion preventing intruders from seeing the three Mist-nins in the top of the tree as they rested and regrouped.


	2. Chapter 2 Let Battle Commence

**CHAPTER 2**

Ralfe, Kyo and Rina sped through the forest with great urgency. Ralfe was of medium-height, with shoulder-length dark brown hair, covered by a blue beanie hat over which he wore his Konaha headband backwards. His jacket and shorts were both blue, and a pair of glasses adorned his face.

Kyo was taller, with spiky blond hair and red clothes which made Ralfe always said he should change as they failed to camouflage him at all, though Kyo always told him 'that looking the coolest was the most important thing in a fight.' Ralfe said Kyo watched too much TV.

Rina, the quietest member of the team, had long red hair that went most of the way down her back. Her tight shorts and baggy jacket were white, which clashed terribly with her hair.

They had to cover at least two kilometres a day to reach the tower in time. Ignoring all other signs of ninjas, they intended to get as close to the tower in the first day. There they would lie in wait for other genin to come along.

'This'll do.' said Ralfe as they reached a clearing. 'Rina, get in that tree. Kyo, behind that rock. I'll hide behind this tree.'

They waited for half an hour before another Konoha cell moved into the clearing.

'We'll stop for lunch here.' said one of them, who appeared to be the leader.

_'Fools.'_ thought Kyo. He stepped from behind the rock. 'Art of Pyromancy!' he declared. After performing a complex series of hand symbols, he stuck his arms out at full length. Fire shot from them and surrounded the three genin in a ring of flames.

'Nice going Kyo.' said Ralfe as he came out of his hiding place. 'Now heres the deal' he said calmly to the other nins, smirking. 'There's still plenty of the exam left. You've got loads of time to collect two more scrolls. So I suggest you hand over your scroll now. Otherwise our teammate up there,' he gestured towards Rina who stood on the branch of the tree, 'will cut you to bits before you can draw breath. So what's it to be?'

The genin saw that they were beaten. They tossed their scroll to Ralfe.

'Smart move', he said as he caught it. 'The earth scroll, just what we needed.'

He and Rina continued towards the tower.

'The fire should burn itself out in about an hour', said Kyo to their beaten opposition, before turning to run after the others.

'Great job guys!' exclaimed Ralfe as they ran through the forest.

'That was awesome!' cried Rina joyfully.

Kyo could not surpress a loud whoop of delight. Even Ralfe didn't seem to mind.

…………………………….

Kroan, Akari and Kai sped through the forest. They had watched Shadow's team collect their scroll, and had decided to follow them and attack, as they knew them to have the scroll they needed. They intended to tail them until they found a good opportunity to strike.

…………………….

Kira had assumed his meditative stance, and almost fell out of the tree as three nins sped under their hiding place. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, making sure their 'Heaven' scroll didn't fall to the ground.

"Those...were Grass-nins..." He muttered "I had my senses magnified as much as possible, so their high-speed intrusion hurt..."

Rukia nodded impatiently.

"Yes, yes, we know how it works. We've got to follow those nins and take their scroll. Grass-nins are usually almost as powerful as Sand-nins, but far more brutal. It's better if we eliminate them as soon as possible."

Kira winced and nodded, then quickly looked around.

"Where's Kenpachi?"

Rukia grinned.

"He started following them right after they passed underneath us. We'd better hurry if we want to catch up..."

Shadow's team came upon Kenpachi a little further on into the forest.

"I will handle this one...," Shadow said coldly. He moved his hands in several different signs fast enough so that they were hard to make out without a lot of concentration. "Now die!" A bunch of sand engulfed him and slowly crushed him.

Kenpachi jumped as the sand began to engulf him. He quickly made a series of hand seals.

_Replacement justu...and the Shyunpo warp step!_

His warp-jump carried him behind his assailant, leaving his replacement (a large tree branch disguised as himself) trapped in the sand. He pulled out a handful of shuriken, and threw them at his attacker.

Kroan, Akari and Kai watched as the Sand and Mist shinobi joined battle.

'Lets attack now', said Kai.

'No, we should wait 'til they've finished, and then we'll attack when they're weakened', said Kroan, punching Kai in the arm. Kroan always used his size to get what he wanted.

'Keep it down you two or they'll spot us', said Akari, glaring at them with her piercing eyes.

Back at the fight, Shadow burst into sand as he was hit. He appeared behind Kenpachi.

"Wrong move Sparky..." He stabbed through his stomach with a blade of sand.

Haru and Soni appeared behind Kroan, Akira and Kai, wrapping their sand around the Grass shinobi's bodies.

"Weaklings..." Haru breathed.

'What the hell?' cried Kroan.

Akari managed to dodge the sand, as usual using her speed to her advantage, and jumped in a tree. Kroan popped a soldier pill into his mouth with his one free hand, then picked Kai up under his arm and jumped into the tree next to Akari.

'Guess thats our cover blown.' said Akari. 'Art of Grass Needles!' she cried. After performing the intricate hand signals needed for any jutsu, the grass beneath the sand nins' feet sprung up and shot at Haru with extreme speed. Each blade was as sharp as a real needle.

'Try getting out of that one.' said Kai. 'Art of Spiders' Trap!' Sticky webbing shot from his hands towards Soni.'

Soni burst into sand and recollected after the attack passed.

Haru raised a wall of sand that blocks the needles and shoots them back with sand needles.

Shadow saw his teammates and does twenty hand symbols in five seconds, creating a heavy fog.

'What say we get the hell out of here as quick as we can?' suggested Kai.

'I'm with you. We'll be dead in seconds if they can see through this fog.' agreed Akari. They couldn't see Kroan anywhere.

'Where is he?' exclaimed Kai in desperation. He formed a net of webbing around them that would protect to them to some extent, but he wasn't sure that it would do anything against the sand attacks.

Kroan armed himself with all the kunai he had: one on each finger. He backed up against a tree, away from the sand nins. Hopefully he would be ready for any attack.

Haru appeared behind him and created a rope of sand around Kroan, tying him to the tree.

Soni found the other two under the web. "Give us your scroll...and we might spare you."

Meanwhile, Shadow hid with the sand as he watched the team that he attacked.

'Go to hell', said Kai, and shot webbing in Soni's eyes. Akari punched her in the ribs.

Kroan used all his force to break free of his sand bindings. He had plenty of strength left from the soldier pill.

"So your so weak, you use a soldier pill" Haru said as he jumped into a tree throwing chiropractic needles and kunai knives all over Kroan's body.

Soni gets up and throws chiropractic needles through the web hitting their necks. "You should have given me the scroll."


	3. Chapter 3 Mist Reinforcements

**CHAPTER 3**

Kai shot more webbing in front of them, stopping the needles inches from his face.

'Aaaaaaaaah!' cried Kroans the kunais struck him all over.

'That was Kroan!' exclaimed Akari.

'We're so screwed' said Kai.

They leapt from the tree branch and ran to Kroan, who could barely stand.

'Lets get out of here Kroan!' cried Kai.

'...No... I'm not running away...'

'You'll get killed' warned Akari.

'No... they will... pay.' He took out the bag he carried that contained his soldier pills. He poured the entire bag into his mouth.

'What the hell are you doing!'

'You'll get killed. No one can live after taking that many soldier pills.'

'Shut up Kai. You've always been weak.' Kroan stood up straight and plucked every kunai from his body. 'I feel more powerful than I ever have before!' he exclaimed. He threw himself at Haru, throwing the kunai as he went. 'Aaaaar!' he shouted.

Ralfe, sitting at the top of a tree, scanned the area. He saw a bloody battle going on about a kilometre away from them. He could only just make out the figures fighting, but it looked like two or three cells were involved. He looked towards the tower.

'We _must_ get there.' he said to himself.

Back on the ground, Kyo and Rina collected their equipment.

'Kyo, do you think we'll get to the tower?' asked Rina.

'Of course, we will. We already have the scrolls and we're only a few hours into the exam.'

'Do you think we'll pass the exam and become chuunin?'

'I know _I_ will,' Kyo replied arrogantly.

'How can you be so confident Kyo? Don't you ever get worried about anything, or get intimidated when you see someone who seems so strong?'

'No, because if you think that you're weaker then them, then you will be. You have to believe in yourself to succeed.'

Rina was silent. She again felt out-classed by her team-mates. They had got them their second scroll. She hadn't done much except stand in a tree.

Ralfe descended the tree and watched his comrades from a lower branch. Kyo looked calm. Rina looked scared. He knew that she wasn't confident in her abilities, and that she thought herself weaker than everyone else, but Ralfe also knew that if she tried, she could become stronger than both him and Kyo.

…………………………………………..

Haru jumped up and landed in the sand and sank himself into it along with Soni and Shadow.

Kroan charged after them, striking the sand as hard as he could with his fists.

Haru and his team mates meanwhile travelled underground towards the tower.

Kenpachi watched the Sand-nins disappear in the direction of the tower, then looked back at the Grass-nins.

'_They forgot about me...now is a good time to attack...'_

At that moment, he noticed Rukia standing in a tree on the other side of the clearing from him. She finished doing hand seals, and the air was suddenly heavy with a thick fog. Kenpachi was soon unable to see her, and he heard the Grass nins below him scrambling to set up a defenesive position.

Kroan then noticed the other nins. Still enraged, and bursting with energy and bloodlust, he charged towards Kenpachi recklessly, despite hardly being able to see through the fog. Every muscle in his body rippled with unbelievable power. Kai and Akari were aware that he could not stay in this state for long.

Kai shot webbing through the mist in an effort to slow Kenpachi down, giving Kroan a bigger chance at hitting him. Akari used her grass needles to fire at Rukia.

Kenpachi stared as the monster of a man tore through the forest towards him and as the netting soared at him.

_Now would be a good time for Kira to show up..._ He thought. At that very instant he heard a familiar voice ring through the forest.

"Suiton-Bakusui Shouha!" Water element-Explosive Water Shockwave

A veritable torrent of water suddenly poured into the area, sweeping both Kenpachi and his assailant away. Kira leapt from his hiding place, water still dripping from his mouth. He looked slightly winded, but that didn't appear to hinder him as he jumped onto the wave of flowing water, using chakra to stay afloat.

Kenpachi stared at him.

_That's a Jounin level technique...It isn't at full power, but the fact that he can use it at all is astounding...I need to step up my training..._

He collected chakra in his feet, using it to rise up to the surface and stand up. He leapt away from Kroan, and threw several Kunai at him.

Rukia created several water clones of herself and leapt into the forest. The clones were quickly demolished by the grass needles. She quickly disappeared into the heavy fog, and shuriken buzzed from where she had disappeared, swinging in straight at Akari.

Akari and Kai leapt into a tree to avoid the flow of water. Kroan was knocked back by the torrent, but got up again and charged through it, completely regardless of his own safety. He had literally lost his mind: the only thing that he thought about was inflicting pain on his enemies.

'This is bad', said Akari. 'At this rate his body will completely break down. No one can sustain that much power for long.'

'But what can we do? If we try and stop him ourselves he'll kill us. Lets just hope he comes to his senses before he kills himself.'


	4. Chapter 4 The First Teams Pass

(It may seem from the content this chapter that I've forgotten about the battle between the Grass and Mist nins, but don't worry, that continues in the next chapter.)

**CHAPTER 4**

Ralfe, Kyo and Rina ran through the forest. They reached a clearing and stopped to catch their breath. A stone nin dressed all in black stepped out from behind a tree.

'Crap' said Ralfe.

'We can take him,' said Kyo. 'Theres only one of him.'

'Wait,' said Ralfe, holding up his hand to the nin. 'Which scroll do you have? Theres no pointing in fighting if we don't need one another's scrolls.'

'I have both scrolls. I'm just wiping out rookies like you guys,' came the reply. 'So just hand over your scrolls.'

'What kind of shinobi would that make us if we just gave you our scroll without even putting up a fight?' exclaimed Ralfe.

'Wise ones.'

'Art of Pyromancy!' Kyo shot flames at him, but the opposing shinobi stuck out his arm and a blast of air shot from them, extinguishing the fire.

'Keep attacking!' ordered Ralfe.

'Art of Konoha!' shouted Rina, and leaves flew from the trees towards him. Kyo shot more fire at him. More blasts of air from either arm held them off.

With both the nin's arms blocking attacks, Ralfe took the chance. 'Art of Groundbreaking!' He performed the required hand signals, then struck the ground with his palms. A shockwave shot through the earth towards the nin, knocking him off his feet. He hit a tree and slumped over, unconscious. Suddenly Kyo and Rina were struck by two more sound blasts. Ralfe wheeled around to see who was there. Another stone nin. Suddenly he felt the blade of a kunai at his neck. The third team member crept had come up behind him, and had him cornered.

'Move and he's dead,' said the genin to Kyo and Rina. 'Now hand over your scrolls and we'll let you go.

'Okay,' said Kyo disheartened. He took out the scrolls and threw them to the nins, who released Ralfe. The three leaf genin threw themselves to the ground immediately as the scrolls exploded, knocking the two other nins out.

'Good idea of yours to make decoy scrolls, Rina,' complemented Ralfe.

'Yeh, that was great!' said Kyo.

'Thanks,' she said, quietly. She didn't take compliments well. They rummaged through the Sand genins' stuff, but they didn't have any scrolls.

'I guess they were bluffing,' said Kyo.

'Lets get out of here then,' said Rina.

……………………………………..

Shadow's team popped out of the ground in front of the tower.

"There's no way in!" Haru yelled only to be smacked by Soni.

"What do we do Shadow?" Soni whispered

"Climb..." Shadow said as he throws his chiropractic needles and kanai knives all the way up the tower, "Haru, those are for you and Soni, give me the scrolls, I'll meet you at the top."

"Ok..." Haru said as he handed Shadow the scrolls.

Shadow ran up the side of the building his chakra perfectly balanced for the climb.

………………………………..

Night began to fall over the forest. Kyo, Ralfe and Rina had almost reached the tower.

'Come on, we can get there tonight easily,' argued Kyo.

'I agree that we could, but it would be a risk. There are enemies out here that will use the darkness to their advantage,' said Ralfe.

'But there might be more enemies nearer the tower by tomorrow morning. And near the tower is where it will be most dangerous,' said Rina.

'True. And we'll be vulnerable just sitting here. But if we don't get any sleep, we won't be able to recover any strength,' replied Ralfe.

'As if we're going to get any sleep out here anyway. Its freezing,' said Kyo.

'OK, we'll take a vote. Who thinks we should try to reach the tower tonight?'

All three genin raised their hands.

'Then its decided, we'll continue on towards the tower. We should be able to get there in another couple of hours. Hopefully we'll be ahead of most of the rest of the teams, so we might not run into any trouble.'

'Moving through this forest is irritating', complained Kyo, 'We have to go so slowly with all theses thick bushes and brambles.'

'And in the dark it'll be hard to see.' added Rina. 'Can you light the way Kyo?'

'Sure, but I don't know if I'll be able to keep it up for the whole night.'

'Then we'll just have to get to the tower fast,' said Ralfe. 'Lets go.'

Kyo made a small fireball in his palm and they set off: Kyo leading the way, Rina in the middle and Ralfe at the rear.

……………………………..

Shadow's team reached the top of the tower and opened the scrolls together. Gaara appeared from them and silently the four of them made their way inside the tower.

'Its there!' claimed Kyo joyfully, pointing towards the tower. 'We just have to get through these bushes. Art of Pyromancy!' The flames burned the bushes that led in their way to ashes.

'Woohoo! We made it.'

'Yes!'

'Yey!'

They stood at the foot of the tower.

'Now what?' inquired Rina. 'Wheres the door?'

'It must be around here somewhere. But we don't have time to go all the way round the tower to find it.' said Ralfe.

'Maybe its genjutsu!' yipped Rina. As soon as their minds realised that this was just an illusion, they could see a door just to the left.

'In we go,' said Ralfe. He opened the door and he and Rina walked in. As Kyo was about to follow, he noticed four figures standing on top of the tower, looking down at them.  
_'Looks like we weren't the first ones here,'_ he thought. He quickly followed the others in. They unrolled the scrolls and read out the passwords, and as they did so, Genma, their jounin leader appeared before them.

'Genma-sensei!' they exclaimed happilly.

'Congratulations, you have just passed, in nine hours, fifty-one minutes and thirteen seconds, the second test in the Chuunin Selection Exam. I knew you could do it,' he said. Kyo leapt about happily, Ralfe sat down wearily on the floor, and Rina threw her arms around Genma.

'I'm so happy to see you Genma-sensei!'

'Well you seem to have lost your shyness.' he said. 'Well done all of you. You're the second team to finish the test.'

'Second!' queried Ralfe, surprised.

'I saw another team on the roof. Was that them?' said Kyo.

'Yep, a cell from sand. Their jounin captain is Gaara.'

'_The_ Gaara! But hes one of the strongest shinobi alive!' exclaimed Rina.

'True. So its not surprising that his cell would pass so quickly. They arrived a few minutes ago.'

'Why were they on the roof?' asked Ralfe.

'They climbed up the tower. They didn't figure out the last challenge.' replied Genma.

'It was Rina who figured that out,' said Kyo, smiling at her.

'Come on, I'll take you through.'

Genma led them through another door and down a corridor to a large room where the Fifth sat in her throne-like seat. Nearby stood three sand nins and next to them stood the legendary Gaara.

'Congratulations on completing the second exam,' said Tsunade.


	5. Chapter 5 The Mists' Encounter

**CHAPTER 5**

_10PM, 8 hours after the beginning of the exam._

Back in the forest…

The exploding tags that had been attached to the kunai Kenpachi had thrown detonated, sending multiple concussive waves hurtling through the water.

_If we can just take this stronger one out, acquiring their scroll will become much easier..._ Kenpachi thought.

He looked over at Kira, who was performing another set of hand seals.

"Suiton-Suikodan no Jutsu" Water element-Water Shark Splurge

A mass of water separated itself from the main flow, forming a giant serpent-looking form. It charged itself towards the muscle-bound man, breaking down trees in its path as though they were twigs.

Kroan pushed through the tides of water slowly. He grabbed a tree for support, but it was ripped from the ground by the currents. Kroan picked it up and hurled it at Kira.

Kira was still manipulating his Jutsu, and was unable to dodge as the tree flew closer and closer. Suddenly Kenpachi appeared above him, kicking down at the tree and forcing it into the torrent of water, sending it back at Kroan. Rukia appeared next to Kira.

_"We're taking too long, and we are attracting too much attention. Even if we win here, chances are that we will be attacked by nins that were following us after the battle. We have to disengage, regroup, and make a new plan."_

Kira sighed, and reluctantly dispersed his jutsu. The flow of water slowed to a trickle, and the torrent fell down to about knee-height. Rukia quickly recast her Hidden Mist Jutsu, leaving the Grass-nins to wander blind in the haze. The three Mist-nins hastily jumped away and quickly headed towards the central tower.

They were making good time when suddenly a red-haired Genin appeared out of nowhere and kicked Kira clean in the stomach. Kira fell halfway to the ground before Kenpachi caught him, only to land right in front of another Genin, this one pointing a Katana straight at his face. A third Genin appeared in the tree above speaking to Rukia, who appeared to be halfway through a complicated set of Hand Seals.

"Halt. We don't want any trouble, despite what my teammates have done."

He threw an Earth scroll on the ground in front of them.

"Take that and go to the tower as quickly as possible. I don't like fighting Mist-nins, and my team is in the middle of..." He glanced around for an appropriate word. "Removing inferior candidates."

Kira snarled and picked up the scroll.

"We don't need this! We'll take you all on!"

There was a muted whisper, and Kira suddenly noticed the blade of a Katana underneath his chin.

"I suggest you take Ichimaru's offer. If you don't, I will be forced to kill you."

The man standing in the tree made a shooing motion towards the swordsman.

"Don't be so hasty, Byakuya. We need _someone_ to stay alive and report on the kindness of grass-nins." He said, with an odd smile on his face.

Kira nodded hesitantly, taking the scroll and leaping through the trees into the direction of the tower. Kenpachi followed him, and Rukia appeared beside him almost instantaneously.

Renji turned to Ichimaru.

'Why'd you do that? We'll have to face them later on now!"

Ichimaru turned, a sadistic smile on his face.

"I know. It's more fun to save the stronger ones until the end..."

………………………………..

The Mist-nins arrived at the base of the tower long after the sun had set. They quickly ran round the entire circumference of the tower, looking for an entrance.

"Doesn't look like there's a way in..." Kira muttered, being careful to keep his voice down.

"It must be Genjutsu..." Rukia replied. "Probably something that requires belief that there really _is_ an entrance for the entrance to show..."

As she said that, a door materialized in front of the team. They quickly entered, and after reading the inscriptions on the wall, opened their scrolls. A Jounin wearing bandage wraps covering his mouth and bearing a large sword suddenly appeared before them.

"Tsavong-sensei!" Kenpachi said in surprise.

"Eh...you guys finished pretty quickly for your first time through...how'd you get your other scroll?"

Kira glared at the wall for a moment, then turned to face his team's instructor.

"A team of Grass-nins gave us one. They seemed to enjoy attacking people in the forest..."

"Ah, that must be Mayuri's team. Well, come along. I need to get you guys registered and set you up for the third exam..."

They walked up several sets of stairs before arriving at the top of the tower, where the 5th Hokage was eating with a Sand and Leaf team. Tsavong turned to a secretary sitting at the Hokage's desk.

"Team 3 of the Mist has finished the second exam."

The Fifth had invited the two teams that had already passed to dine with her at the top of the tower. She sat at the head of the table, with Gaara's team on one side and Genma's on the other.

They had been introduced to each other by name, but neither team knew anything more about each other. There looked nothing suspicious about Haru (apart from his shocking blue spiky hair) or Soni, but all three of the genin were scared by the look in Shadow's eyes.

Genma could see at a glance that Gaara and this boy shared a strong bond. The look in Shadow's eyes was similar to the one that he had seen in Gaara's all those years when he had proctored the fight between Gaara and Uchiha Sasuke.

Ralfe, who sat opposite Shadow, caught his eye. That look from Shadow's lifeless red eyes, which shone out in violent contrast to his black hair, sent a shiver down his spine. He was more terrified by that look than by anything else he had before. _'We could be in a lot of trouble if we end up fighting this guy,'_ he thought.

Suddenly a group of shinobi walked through the door with their sensei.

One of the genin had blue-grey, spiky hair and penetrating grey eyes. He wore a long-sleeved shirt and black trousers.

The genin next to him wore a grey skullcap bearing his village's emblem, denoting that they were Mist nins. A few wisps of white hair showed from underneath the skullcap. The sleeves of his dark blue shirt were long and stretched right down past the tips of his fingers.

The only girl in the team had shoulder-length black hair and mystical red eyes with swirls of white in them. She wore a grey-blue poncho with a long-sleeved black shirt showing underneath.

'Congratulations,' Tsunade said standing up. 'There must be a lot of talented young shinobi taking the exam for three teams to pass on the first day. I think this may be a new record. Grab a chair and sit down to eat with us.'


	6. Chapter 6 Sand vs Mist

**CHAPTER 6**

_11am, second day. 23 hours through the exam._

Genma and his team stood on a balcony overlooking the forest, where they could just make out small figures moving through the forest, fighting, eating - even swimming in the river.

'Looks like the exam is in full swing,' commented Genma.

The genin had slept well last night. They had told their story of their battles in the forest, and then had gone to sleep quickly.

'I'm really proud of you guys. You've even surpassed my estimations of your abilities. I'll give you a day of to relax and recover, and then we have to start training for the next test. I'm not allowed to tell you what it is, but its going to be tougher than either of the previous two.'

'Can't you tell us what the third test is Genma-sensei? asked Rina.

'I'm afraid not. But I'll tell you this much - watch out for that Shadow kid. He looks strong, and ruthless. I've not seen a look like that in anyone's eyes since...' He trailed off.

'I noticed that too. I don't mind admitting that I'm afraid of that guy,' said Ralfe quietly. He pulled his hat down low over his face.

……………………………

The Mist-nins slept into the late morning, especially Kira, who had used up a lot of Chakra the day before. They waited until the morning to tell Tsavong their tale.

He nodded quietly to himself, and then motioned for the Genins to follow him. He carried a long flat package with him out into a training room within the tower complex.

"Now then, the third test of the Chuunin exam is categorically harder than the previous two. You guys got here on the first day, so you have a head start on the other teams..."

Shadow walked past them, glaring at Kira. "I will practice...against all three of you...at once, and I will use only 10 of my power..." Shadow said in a darker tone then usual and walked to the opposite side of the room.

Soni stared at Shadow then walks out into the room, kissed his cheek, then went and sat in the stands. "Come on Shadow!"

Haru walked out and sat near Soni, and looked at Shadow. "10? You really suck, taking on 3 at a time with 10!"

Shadow looked up at him. "I only used 5 in the forest..."

Gaara walked onto the field, towards Shadow and patted his shoulder. "You will do well, my son." He walked into the stands and sat between Soni and Haru.

Kira glared back at Shadow, making their Jounin leader sigh.

'_He's like the old Gaara was...except more arrogant.'_

He took the wrapped object he had been carrying and handed it to Kenpachi. The young Mist-nin unwrapped it, revealing a broadsword as long as he was tall. The Genin stared at it, then looked up at Tsavong and nodded.

The three Mist-nins turned to face Shadow, Rukia and Kira already forming hand seals.

Shadow stood there, his hand beginning to glow. "How about...first team to fall? I am my team..." Shadow smirked as a 5 foot circle of electricity surrounded him, sending bolts to his hand as his other hand moved rapidly, making hand signals. Suddenly a thick fog covered the field, and Shadow watched the other team look around, blinded. "Your weapons are useless unless you see me...your hearts are weak and unworthy...shall you die now or later?...In the end it does not matter." Shadow's voice echoed through the mist. "Jounins, leave the field so we have a fair fight..."

Gaara motioned for the other jounin to come. "He's using two moves at once...he has surpassed the level I was at that age...I wonder what his full potential is...

Soni smiled and screamed at Shadow, "Shadow! Kill them off, one less team to worry about!" She giggles and blushes.

Genma and his team walked through into the training room. All of the team had insisted on training right away. There they saw a thick fog, and the other two cells looked like they were about to go into battle.

'What the hells going on?' exclaimed Ralfe.

'Oh no. I should get the Fifth.' replied Genma.

'No, lets let them kill each other. Then we'll have fewer people to face in the next round.' said Kyo.

'No. The Fifth should know about this. Lets go and get her.'

'That won't be necessary,' said a voice from behind them. It was Tsunade. 'Stop fighting! This is not authorised!' she bellowed. Both teams separated and the fog cleared. 'Gaara! Tsavong! As guests of Konoha, you would be wise to follow our guidelines. I have no alternative but to give both teams an official warning. If any of you are found breaking the exam rules again, you and you're entire cell will be disqualified.'

She turned on her heel and stormed out. Genma had rarely seen her as angry. He gestured for his team to follow him, and they left for another training area.

Despite herself, though, Tsunade was impressed. _'That boy's charka was incredible, even for a disciple of the Kazekage.'_

Tsavong grinned, showing his rather pointed teeth. He turned to his Genins, who were looking to him for orders.

'You heard her. The last thing we want is for you guys to get disqualified."

Kira released whatever tension he seemed to be holding, looking rather sullen. Tsavong eyed him.

"It was good that she interrupted. We now know some of the details about that Shadow kid, and the battle was stopped before they could find out anything about you guys."

He glanced over at Kenpachi and Rukia. Kenpachi was glaring at the Sand team, and Rukia seemed to be plotting the best way to take them out.

"And as for you two, don't get all worked up about it. You'll get your chance in the third exam."

Kenpachi shifted his glare to his Jounin leader.

"Sensei, he insulted the Mist. He spoke as if we knew nothing of the life of a ninja. He-"

"He knows nothing of how we of the Mist train our shinobi or what academy graduates must endure to become Genins, I know. I also know that none of you planned on granting him the least bit of mercy. While that is normally a positive trait in a Mist-nin, killing him outside of an exam would get you guys removed from the exam."

He quickly left the training ground, and his team followed him. They gathered in an unused classroom, and Tsavong began to instruct them on one-on-one battle tactics.


	7. Chapter 7 The Second Exam Completed

**CHAPTER 7**

Shadow walked into the classroom the mist-nins were using and walked up to their Jounin leader, Tsavong. "You still know nothing...Tsavong of the Mist, do you not remember me?" He said quietly as he disappeared and appeared behind Kenpachi. After standing up on the desk, he reached for the back of his head and pulled 2 feet of hair from his shirt and smiled a bit, sparking memories in Tsavong, the person who had saved Shadow from his father's wrath.

Soni walked in too and looked at Shadow, wondering why he was in here and smiling. "Shadow, what are you doing? Gaara wants us to train..." She said rather quietly and concerned.

Shadow shot a rather cold glance at her. "Tell him I'll be there soon." He hopped off the desk. "I hope you remember who I am before you send your Genin at me...Tsavong." Shadow turned and left the room, following Soni to the training field.

…………………………………

An hour later, Shadow returned with Gaara and his team mates. Shadow walked directly to Tsavong and told him of Shadows past… and Tsavong's role in it.

Meanwhile, Shadow, Haru and Soni tended to the wounds that the Mist genins had sustained during training.

Shadow noticed the confused look on Rukia's face and explained, "We want to help you...train, and heal, you look like good opponents, I look forward to fighting you..." He smiled warmly at her then tied his last bandage on her arm. "This should hold...for a while at least."

Soni and Haru finished with the other two's bandages and then left, Shadow following.

Rukia stood up and walked towards the exit. Kenpachi did did the same, and Kira walked over to Tsavong, who seemed deep in thought.

"What was that all about, Tsavong-sensei?"

The Jounin turned and examined Kira, as if noticing him for the first time.

"Ah...it's nothing Kira..."

Tsavong stared at Shadow for a moment, then suddenly disappeared from the rooftop. Kira shrugged and made for the exit.

……………………………..

Genma and his cell sat eating lunch the next day.

'The next round relies on your individual skills,' he told them. 'Its no longer a team exam. I can't tell you anymore than this I'm afraid.'

Ralfe's heart sunk. He wasn't confident on his own. His strategies with his teammates were good, but it was hard to think up good plans when he only had his own skills to work with.

Rina was unhappy too. She needed Ralfe and Kyo to rely on. She wondered if she should just quit.

Kyo felt glad. He was afraid that Ralfe would hold him back from showing his true colours, but now he could show off as much as he wanted.

After lunch, Ralfe and Kyo had gone to train, leaving Rina alone with Genma.

'Genma?' she said tentatively.

'Yeh?' he replied.

'Um... I don't think I can go through with the exam. And now we won't be working as a team, I won't be holding Ralfe and Kyo back.'

'Why do you think that you can't do as well as the others?' asked Genma.

'They're both so strong. Kyo is so strong, and Ralfe is so good at thinking up plans.' said Rina quietly.

'You like them both a lot, don't you?'

'Yeh,' she said shyly.

Genma looked at her. I'll tell you what we'll do,' he said. 'I'll get some friends of mine to train Ralfe and Kyo, and you and I can concentrate on getting your confidence up. Because you have more potential than either of them. But don't tell them I said that.' He smiled at her.

Rina looked happier than she had in months.

…………………………………………………

Four days later, a loud siren sounded throughout the forest, signaling the end of the exam. Tsunade called the teams that had passed to the main hall of the tower.

Shadow and his team looked at each other. "So this is how it ends? a mist team, and a bunch of weaklings against us...how pathetic." Shadow said leaning back in his chair blowing sand bubbles.

"Hm...the mist team does look a little tough...I wonder..." Haru said.

The teams assembled in the main hall. The examiners and the jounin stood with the Fifth at the front and the genin stood in a row.

'Congratulations on completing the second test,' the Fifth said. 'You must all be exceptional shinobi for you all to pass so quickly and easily. The examiner for the next exam will now explain the rules.'

Raidou stepped forward. 'The rules for this exam are simple. They will consist of knockout fights between two genin at a time. The fights will go on until one person is killed, concedes, or injured so much that they are unable to fight. If there is a clear winner, then I will stop the fight to reduce the number of corpses we may have on our hands. You have one month to recover, train and strategise. Anyone who wishes to drop out at this stage may feel free to do so.

The third exam will be a great spectator event. The kages will be watching, as well as many distinguished guests. The shinobi lords and examiners will judge whether you have the right material to be a chuunin. Therefore, even if you lose your first fight, you may be still made a chunin. So all of you, or none of you, may become chunin.'

Here is the order of the fights.' He held up a diagram with their names on.

**Round 1**

Fight A: Rina vs Soni

Fight B: Ralfe vs Kenpachi

Fight C: Kira vs Shadow

Fight D: Haru vs Kyo

Fight E: Rukia vs the Winner of Fight A

**Round 2**

Fight F: Winner of Fight B vs Winner of Fight C

Fight G: Winner of Fight D vs Winner of Fight E

**Final**

Fight F: Winner of Fight F vs Winner of Fight G

(These pairings are randomised.)


	8. Chapter 8 The 'Gentler Sex' Battle

**CHAPTER 8**

_ONE MONTH LATER_

The genins stood in a row in the middle of the large arena in Konoha a month later. Raidou turned to the spectators.

'Welcome to the final test of the Chunin exam. Three teams have made it this far. Soni, Haru and Shadow of the Sand, Kira, Kenpachi and Rukia of the Mist and Kyo, Rina and Ralfe of the Leaf. The first fight is between Rina and Soni. Would these fighters step forward, and the others make their way up to the balcony?'

'Good luck' said Kyo and Ralfe to Rina, and smiled at her.

'Thanks,' she said.

Soni stepped foreward nervously.

"Good luck Soni." Haru said to her.

"Th-thanks." Soni said to Haru.

"Don't blow it, Soni." Shadow said utterly cold.

Soni smiled, it was the first time he had ever said her name. "I won't Shadow, I will win." She said with confidence then walked into the arena battle field and watched as Shadow and Haru went to the participants' balcony.

Rina looked at Soni and noticed that the look in her eyes was similar to her own.

Raidou lifted his arm in the air, then dropped it quickly.

'Begin!'

Soni buried herself in the sand and created dopple-gangers, silently and unnoticeably. Soni's dopple ganger popped out of the ground, landing in front of Rina, who was quickly surrounded while Soni hid under ground.

'Art of Konoha!' Rina declared. The leaves from the trees around the edge of the arena start spiralling inwards towards her and the doppelgangers.

All the Sonis smirked. "Going to hurt yourself to get at me?" She stepped forward, ready to dodge the leaves and attack.

'I can control these leaves as I want. They could cut you to pieces and I would be left unharmed. Bring it on.' She stood still as the leaves came towards them.

'She seems really confident,' commented Kyo.

'Yeh, its really unlike her,' replied Ralfe.

The dopple-gangers used Soni's ability to become solid and sand. They attacked Rina, relentlessly punching her. "So control your leaves through me!" The Sonis yelled as they attacked.

'I don't think punching a log will do much good,' said Rina from behind them. 'I used Art of Substitution. The leaves were merely a decoy. But now I really do plan on attacking you with them!' The leaves shot towards the Soni clones at an incredible speed.

Soni jumped up into the air, and only three of the ten shadow clones were hit, while shuriken flew from the Sonis' hands into Rina's arms.

Rina formed a thick wall of the leaves in front of her. One shuriken still got through and was enbedded in her arm. Surprised, she lost control of the leaves which fell to the ground. She pulled out the shuriken, crying out in pain as she did so.

'Crap,' she said.

The Sonis smirked as another, Soni burst out of the ground and grabbed Rina, flying higher into the air.

"You ready to die?" Soni whispered in her ear as they started falling head-first towards the ground.

'Bring it,' replied Rina as they fell.

Soni smirked and burst into sand as her face, along with Rina's slams into the ground.

"I hope you liked my dopple-ganger, Rina." Another dopple-ganger said, acting like the original.

Rina got up. She was battered, but not yet beaten. Leaves surrounded the earth around her. At the last moment she had created a thick wall of leaves to cushion her fall. This had not been without a price however. Not only had it used up a fair portion of chakra, but the impact was still fairly great, and as such she had still been hurt.

'I'm not ...beaten yet,' she said determinedly.

The rest of the dopple-gangers start making hand seals encasing Rina in sand.

"Now...surrender..." The sand slowly starts crushing her as the dopple-gangers start closing there fists.

'Go to hell. Art of Substitution!' Rina once more avoided Soni's attack.  
_  
'Guess its time to use my new jutsu,'_ she thought.

'Art of Leaf-Storm!' she declared. Every leaf from every one of the trees in the arena ripped from their branches. The flew into the air then shot towards Soni and her clones from every angle at far greater speeds than previously.

_'This has to work,'_ she thought, almost in desperation.

'C'mon Rina,' said Kyo quietly.

All the Sonis burst into sand as the leaves stopped.

For a moment there was dead silence.

'_Did I do it?'_ though Rina.

Suddenly Soni burst from the ground, cutting all the way up Rina with a knife.

"You are easily fooled."

Rina tried to block the attack with her left arm, but it was cut and blood flew from it. She stabbed at Soni with the kunai in her right hand that she had been hiding behind her back. The Soni burst into sand.

"Like I said, easily fooled." Soni said from behind Rena, sending a dozen amount of shuriken and kunai.

Rina tried to use the leaves as a shield again, but her chakra was spent. The kunai and weapons struck in the back, knocking her to the ground. She felt an overwhelming pain before passing out.

Raidou stepped forward. 'The winner of this fight is Soni!'

The crowd began cheering and clapping immediately.

Kyo and Ralfe leapt from the balcony and ran to her, whilst Genma did the same from his place in the stands. The medic nins arrived and extracted the weapons, and then carried her off on a stretcher.

'Will she be alright?' asked Ralfe.

'Yeh. She just needs a few days in bed.' replied Genma.

'That sand nin is strong,' commented Kyo.

'Would Ralfe and Kenpachi please ready themselves?' Raidou said after the crowd had died down.

'Good luck buddy,' said Kyo.

'You'll be fine,' said Genma.

'Thanks. I'll do my best,' answered Ralfe as the others returned to their seats.


	9. Chapter 9 Smarts vs Speed

**CHAPTER 9**

Kenpachi leapt down into the arena, and turned to look up at his teammates, who nodded at him. He nodded back, drawing his sword and stabbing it into the ground. He studied his opponent from a distance.

'_Team leader...meaning he is either the strongest or the smartest...hmm...finding out which is the first order of business.'_

Ralfe sneered at Kenpachi.

'I can take you out with my eyes shut.'

_'This guys probably a taijutsu user, judging by the sword.'_ he thought.

Raidou stood between them. 'Begin!'

Kenpachi hurled a trio of shuriken at Ralfe as he pulled his sword out of the ground. He charged towards his opponent from the side, stabbing his sword into the ground at the corners of his turns, allowing him to change directions quickly.

'_I'll know what type he is from his response to this attack...'_ He thought to himself as he swung his sword down at Ralfe.

_'This guys fast,'_ thought Ralfe as he hurled his own shuriken at Kenpachi's, knocking them away, before all six fell to the ground.

Ralfe himself was very agile; though nowhere near as fast as his opponent. He dodged the sword and span around so that he was behind Kenpachi, drawing a kunai from his pouch which he held to his opponent's head.

'Move and die.'

Kenpachi grinned as Ralfe spun around the stone he had used Henge no Jutsu on.

'_Okay, he must be a tactics type instead of a power type. Hmm... what to do...'_

He dropped out of the tree to the right of the pair.

"I see why our instructors recommend Henge no Jutsu so much...it's really useful, isn't it? I always wondered why they wanted us to be able to do it so quickly..."

The spell surrounding the stone disappeared, letting the large rock drop to the ground. The Kunai in Ralfe's hand disappeared as well. Kenpachi stabbed his blade back into the ground and quickly did a series of hand seals.

'_Ninpou. Kirigakure no Jutsu.'_

A thick fog descended upon the arena. Kenpachi pulled his sword out of the ground.

"Now I'm fighting for real."

Ralfe pinpointed Kenpachi's location before the mist covered the field.

_'Nows my chance,'_ he thought. _'He's let go of his sword.'_

'Art of Groundbreaking!' _Hyoumenka no Jutsu)_. He performed the hand signals quickly, and then slammed the floor with his palms. Tremours were sent through the earth towards Kenpachi. Ralfe used his chakra to control the tremours, causing the earth to envelope Kenpachi's sword in a thick layer of earth, dirt and rock. He then retreated towards the trees on the opposite side of the arena.

'_Hmm...that's no good,' _Kenpachi thought, slightly annoyed.

Kenpachi tested his strength against the handle that still stuck out of the ground, but it would take too long to take out, so he left it there. He pulled a roll of taut wire-string from his equipment pouch, along with a pair of kunai, which he affixed to either end of the wire-string. He then listened intently, barely making out the sounds of hurried footsteps on the damp earth.

'_He must be making for cover along the rim of the arena...I wonder how he plans on actually defeating me...I guess this is just how Konoha Genins fight...'_

He sped in the direction he had heard the footsteps, jumped high into the air, and threw the Kunais from both hands at the sound. The Kunai flew at Ralfe points forward, and at a high speed.

Ralfe dodged the blows in time, and then used Art of Groundbreaking to raise up the ground in the centre of the arena until there was a high wall from one side to the other, with himself on one side and Kenpachi on the other.

_'Now I have time to think up a plan. I've already done some of the hard work - seperating him from his sword. It'll take him far too long to get it out from the ground. And that arrogant attitude I put on didn't fool him. He's clever, but I think I can take him.'_

Ralfe mused upon a plan, but he was increasingly uneasy. _'I have to get rid of this mist first. Too bad I don't have any wind attacks. And my sense of hearing and smell aren't good enough to detect him. I could just upturn the whole of his side of the field, but that would take up too much chakra, and I don't think brute force is what they're looking in a chunin. I'll use the jutsu I learnt especially for this fight.'_

Ralfe readied himself for the sortie, then used 'Groundbreaking' to make a hole in the wall. He stepped through.

'Art of Shadow Dispertion!' He performed the hand signals, after which his entire body seemed to light up like a beacon. Light shon forth, nullifying the mist's blinding properties. He saw Kenpachi at the opposite end of the arena.

'You ready?' he asked, holding up the three shuriken in each hand, and smiling broadly. He was enjoying this fight.

'_Hmm...that's no good either...'_

He watched as the wall of earth rose up and divided the arena in two.

'_He must be trying to overcome the advantage that this mist gives me...hmm...let's see here...he uses earth techniques, which is unusual for a Konoha Genin, and he seems to have a sound tactical mind...I'll have to finish this as soon as possible...'_

He did a series of hand seals.

'Mizubunshin no Jutsu!'

A water clone congealed out of the mist. Kenpachi had him pull back to where he had lost his sword at one end of the arena, and ready shuriken. He stayed at one of the corners formed by the wall of earth, wating for his opponent to come forth. He did, and Ralfe's appearance shocked Kenpachi.

'_So that's how he's going to nullify the mist...'_

He gave a hand signal, and the water clone threw several shuriken at the glowing Genin. At the same time, Kenpachi sped at Ralfe, a Kunai in each hand.


	10. Chapter 10 Victory to the Mist?

**CHAPTER 10**

Ralfe once again threw three shuriken at Kenpachi's, knocking them all away. He hurled another at the oncoming ninja. The water clone threw a Kunai at the wall behind Ralfe, this one attached with an explosive tag. Kenpachi ducked under the shuriken and attempted to stab up at the Leaf-nin. Ralfe's body blew up as Kenpachi stabbed at him, creating a huge explosion which shook the wall of earth. The exploding tag then went off, knocking it down completely.

Ralfe, in tact, stood among the rubble.

'Suicidal Shadow Clone,' he explained to the injured Kenpachi. 'Bakuretsu Kage Bunshin. It works like the normal Kage Bunshin, excepts it explodes,' he said simply.

"Oh ho! Very clever, using that in conjunction with my own tag to injure me..."

Kenpachi slowly stood, cradling a gash on his left arm caused by a jagged piece of rock. He retreated several feet and ducked, letting Shuriken and Kunai whistle over his head.

'_That Mizu bunshin is proving very useful...I'll have to work on using it more...'_

Ralfe evaded the shuriken and kunai and ducked behind some rubble.

_'I wonder if I'll have to pay for damages,'_ he thought, looking round the battered arena floor.

_'First I need to get rid of that water clone. Its only a tenth as powerful as the real thing. It would be a waste using 'Groundbreaking' to take it out. He seems to be using it as covering fire, so if I'm in close combat with the real Kenpachi, I don't think it would risk attacking in case it hit him instead of me. So the question is: Could I take him on in close combat now that I've weakened him? I'll aim to injure his legs, so that he can't kick or run.'_

He held a kunai in either hand and memorised Kenpachi's position, then dimmed his light until it was almost out to make it harder for the water clone to hit him. Then he charged, not head on, but in a curved arc in an attempt to allude and surprise Kenpachi and his clone. When he was close to the mist shinobi, he brightened his light again and stabbed towards Kenpachi's chest. Kenpachi and his clone quickly switched positions as the light dimmed.

'_He must have memorised my position for him to do this...'_

He gave a fierce grin as his water clone dissipated into a puddle of water surrounding his sword.

"_Yes...putting an excess of water into the clone paid off..._"

The earth surrounding the sword embedded into the ground became soft and muddy, allowing Kenpachi to rip it from the ground. He took several steps backwards, swinging so that only the end of the sword could reach his glowing opponent.

'_From this range he can't come inside my guard or have time to throw shuriken. If I keep him at this distance, it will end quickly.'_

At that thought, he swung his longsword at the Leaf-nin, the pointed edge aimed right at his midsection

_'Crap, hes got his sword back.'_ Ralfe side-stepped and stabbed at Kenpachi's right kidney.

Kenpachi rotated, the momentum of swinging the blade pulling him out of harm's way. He angled the tip into the ground, using it a point to push off of, aiming a kick at the back of Ralfe's head. Ralfe threw himself to the ground to avoid the kick, then rolled and got up again to face his opponent.

The unreleased momentum pulled the tip of Kenpachi's sword out of the ground, and he quickly landed on his feet, taking a couple steps back to stay out of close range.

'_Dangit..._ Kenpachi thought as his breath came in short gasps. _...We've been evenly matched throughout this whole thing...I guess I'll have to use 'it''_

He took a step backwards and flung his sword high into the air. He did a series of hand seals before catching the hilt of his sword as it fell to the ground.

'_Suiton- Art of Liquid Embrace!'_

Water congealed out of the mist, surrounding Kenpachi's body in several inches of liquid armor. He formed his left hand into a fist, and the water elongated into a spike, which he pointed at Ralfe.

"I had hoped to save this for the finals, but you're too close of a match for me to beat without it."

He unclenched his fist and grabbed the handle of his sword with it. Water flowed around the hilt, creating a guard for his fingers. He stepped into range, smashing a horizontal slice at Ralfe's chest.

Ralfe was smashed backwards by the immense force of the attack. He fell onto his back, clutching his stomach. 'Well I guess you beat _me_,' he coughed out, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

'But you haven't beaten _me_,' he said, stepping out from behind the broken wall. 'Kage Bunshin really is a useful jutsu. That was just a clone. I guess I've weakened you enough now.

Now heres _my_ strongest technique, made specially for assassinations! Art of the Avalanche!'

He performed the hand signals and the earth beneath Kenpachi began turning and sinking, trapping him by the ankles.

'Surrender.'

Kenpachi sighed.

'_Agh...Kage Bunshin. The bane of Taijutsu users...Oh well...My chakra is almost dry anyway...'_

He reluctantly raised his arm, disappointment colouring his face.

'I surrender.'

'The winner of this fight: Ralfe of the Leaf!' exclaimed Raidou.

Ralfe released the jutsu.

'Woah, that was tough. You're the strongest opponent I've ever faced. Sorry about acting kinda arrogant earlier. It was supposed to throw you off guard, but it didn't really work.'

They walked back to the stands, while Raidou announced the next fight.

'Fight C, Kira of the Mist vs Shadow of the Sand! Would these two competitors come down to the arena?'

'Way to go, Ralfe!' said Kyo as he got back to the balcony.

'Thanks.'

Kenpachi stared at his victorious opponent, and then shrugged, returning to his team. Rukia seemed to be avoiding eye contact, and Kira was already on his way down to the arena floor. Kenpachi caught him on the way down.

"Be careful, Kira. Your opponent goes for the kill in every attack. Letting up on your guard can mean death. Don't-"

Kira waved away Kenpachi's other warnings.

"I'll be fine. Go up and rest. I know that using that water shield drains almost all of your Chakra, so you'd better get up there before you pass out."

Kenpachi nodded, his light-headedness almost causing him to black out, and leapt up to his team's area. Kira dropped down into the arena, and looked up at Shadow.

'_Here we go...'_

Shadow jumped down to face his opponent, glaring fiercely at him.

Raidou raised his arm, then dropped it; 'Start!'


	11. Chapter 11 The Clash of the Strongest

Shadow stared at his opponent.

'Give up.'

His hands danced in a flurry of seals. A thick mist covered the arena and twenty shadow duplications of himself appeared around him. Shadow sent his dopple gangers to attack Kira while a ball of electricity formed on his palm.

'You want to die? Then fight back.'

'Mist and some inferior version of Copy-ninja Kakashi's raikiri? Are you insane? You can't judge my reactions at all, and you don't have the Sharingan to protect yourself!' taunted Kira.

The shadow clones drew near, and Kira lept into the air, quickly forming hand seals.

'Suiton- Bakusui Shouha!'

A torrent of water poured out of his mouth, wiping out the doppelgangers and filling the arena with water a foot deep. Kira landed on the surface and stared through the mist at the sound of the spark thunder.

'_I wonder...'_

Shadow was standing on the water, uneffected by Kira's attack. He smirked and slammed his hand into the water sending electric currents through it. 'You fool, you fell into my trap. The Raikiri Shouha! Kira...surrender. I don't wish to kill a childhood friend but if I must, I will.' Shadow walked towards Kira on a sand mound he created under his feet.

Ralfe and Kyo watched from the balcony.

_'I was lucky to be able to go first. I'll have the most time to recover before my next fight. Plus I can study these guys' strategies and techniques. Hopefully they'll wear each other's chakra down enough for me to be in with a chance of beating them.'_ Ralfe thought.

'Hey, isn't that the guy Genma said had a bloodline limit?' said Kyo, referring to Kira.

'Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I hope we get to see it.'

_'So I'll be fighting against the Mist's prodigal genin or a homocidal maniac. Thats just great,'_ he thought.

Kira leapt away from Shadow's attack and onto the arena wall, securing himself to it with Chakra.

'_There we go...his hand's in the water, time to pull him under!'_

He did a series of hand seals.

'Suiton- Goshoukuzame!'

Tendrils of water snaked up Shadow's arm, dragging him under the surface.

"Don't think that's the end of it..." Kira muttered.

'Suiton- Suikodan no Jutsu!'

A hole in the water suddenly appeared, showing a circle where Shadow was held by the tendrils of water. Large masses of water shot out from the surrounding wall at Shadow, spinning toward him like a drill rotating at incredible speed.

Kyo and Ralfe's eyes widened. Even Genma was suprised a genin could perform such a jutsu, though no sign of it showed on his calm face.

'What is that!' exclaimed Kyo.

'We're supposed to be the best genin in Konoha, but they're in a completely different league!' replied Ralfe.

_'I haven't seen such a battle since Gaara and Uchiha,'_ thought Genma.

Raidou, who had retreated to the safety of the stands when Kira had flooded the arena floor, spoke to the Hokage.

'I don't think the stadium will stay safe for spectators if this fight goes on. Perhaps we should evacuate.'

'Not yet. Besides, I want to see how this turns out,' she replied.

_'How can I even hope to beat either of those two!' _thought Ralfe to himself in desperation.

Shadow made hand seals forming a deeper mist and used his Sand tomb technique, sand creeping up the arena wall to encase Kira.

'_He's trying to make me drop the technique! I'm not going to lighten up that easily...'_

He heard the sand swirling towards him from behind. He closed his eyes and formed series of hand seals, and then made a sweeping motion with his hand. Ice shot out of the surface of the water, forming a protective wall between him and the sand attacking him.

'_The heavy mist should be able to keep that a secret...wouldn't want to give away my Bloodline limit before it's necessary, eh?'_

Kira glanced down, peering through the fog at the vortex of water surrounding Shadow. The walls of water were becoming unstable.

_'I can't manage more than two of these Jutsu at a given time...I'll have to end this quickly...'_

He walked down the side of the wall and pressed the tips of his fingers down on the surface of the water, simultaneously dispelling the water tendrils and rotating deluge Jutsu, releasing Shadow. Kira made hand seals, then pressed the tips of his fingers under the surface again.

'_Suiton-Art of Five Feeding Sharks!'_

The water surrounding Kira's fingertips suddenly began frothing, and steam rose from the five points. The boiling water shot out from his fingertips in five separate lines, all spiraling down towards Shadow.

Shadow smirked and jumped up using the art of substitution. 'Fool.' Shadow dived down at Kira, sand flying up from the ground holding Kira still. Shadow stabbed through one of Kira's hands.

Ice spiked out of the water into the sand, freeing Kira's legs. It also sprouted from the wound in Kira's hand, spreading all the way up Shadow's arm, which froze it into one jointless limb. Ice covered the fingers on Kira's right hand, forming five spikes of frozen water. Kira stabbed that hand at Shadow's stomach.

Shadow threw his ice covered hand into Kira's.

'You alyways trust your eyes, fool,' Shadow said, his ice covered arm hanging at his side. With his remaining hand he performed a complex set of seals in rapid succession.

The water circled up and formed into a dragon, and more columns raised up, and from them more dragons appeared.

'Let me show you the true power of a ninja who has been trained in both the Sand and the Mist!' Shadow screamed, his body twisting and dissolving into a horrible creature. A gigantic wolf was in Shadow's previous spot, staring down at Kira.

Sitting next to Tsunade in the stands, Gaara smirked.

'Here is the true power of the Sand…'


	12. Chapter 12 Battle of Wills

Kira glared up at the massive creature.

'_Feh. That sort of technique must be a massive drain on his Chakra...I'll just fight conservatively for now...'_

He took several steps backward, waiting for the beast's assault.

Shadow, in his bestial form, stared down at Kira and howled ferociously.

'Foolish mist-nin. You must learn to use chakra and physical attacks together as one!'

Shadow lunged forward, spraying water into the air. Kira jumped to the right of the charging beast, launching himself across the arena to the wall opposite him.

'_Good thing this fog is still around...might have some trouble running away if he could actively track my position...but I still need to draw this out some more...make him waste more of his Chakra...'_

"Surrender!" Shadow howled as he turned to his opponent. Kira glared at the monstrosity again.

'Me surrender to you? Ha! It's a thousandyears to early for that!'

He stepped backwards, forming hand seals.

'Your size in that state is a great weakness...'

He stamped his foot on the surface of the water, timing it with the formation of the last hand seal.

'Suiton- Sensatsu Suishou no Jutsu!'

Water lifted up from the surface, forming hundreds of tiny needles, which quickly froze over into spikes of ice. Kira made a squeezing motion with his hand, and every needle launched itself at the massive creature simultaneously.

Shadow howled, causing the needles to shatter. 'Fool!' Shadow stepped forward onto Kira's leg, crushing it. Kira merely laughed.

'It doesn't matter! My ice doesn't just freeze the body; I can also use it to halt the movement of Chakra!'

As if on cue, ice sprouted up around Shadow's left foreleg, freezing all the way up to the shoulder.

'Also,' Kira grunted as ice covered his right shin. 'I can use it as a brace for broken limbs. Since I control it, it doesn't interfere with my Chakra.'

He smirked.

'Despite all your boasts, I know that form must take a lot of Chakra to maintain. And all those shadow clones, this mist and that lightning technique must have taken up quite a bit as well. You can't defeat me. I still have a trump card while it seems you have no tricks left up your sleeve.'

'No more tricks, eh?' The wolf howled a sonic wave, shattering the ice around his leg. He raised a hideous paw and slashed at Kira's chest with its sharp claws. Kira's body suddenly disappeared in a splash of water, revealing it to be a water clone. The real Kiraappeared above the beast, and landed on its head, whilst performing a series of hand seals.

'Suiton-Makyou Kyuu!'

He slammed his palms down it the wolf's head. From his hands, ice formed, quickly covering the creature's entire body. Kira flipped off of the creature, landing on the surface of the water.

Shadow stood still as the ice began to melt from a blazing heat radiating from his body.

'Kira...surrender or you will die, or someone close to you!'

'Don't confuse me with some newborn in its crib, Shadow. I'm not intimidated by such idle threats. Someone close to me? Hah! I'd love to see who you would choose for that unhappy burden...'

Kira grinned.

'But since you have so brazenly challenged me, I can't let you lose in a boring way. You'll shatter when you discover the distance between your strength and mine...'

'Yes, quite a big difference.' Shadow charged forward, lowering the mist and using the water from it to turn the entire arena floor into and electric minefield.

'Behold the Rai Rue Sabantora!' Shadow made a sand dome over the water, the sand turned solid as Shadow changed back to his normal form.

'Don't think for a moment that you have the upper hand here...' Kira muttered as he rotated himself to stand upside down on the sand dome. 'All you've done is reduce the amount of places that you can hide...'

He did a series of hand seals, then made a horizontal sweeping motion with both hands.

'Suiton- Art of the Crystalline pillars!'

Spikes of ice began to shoot out of the water and through the roof of the sand dome in a concentric circle surrounding Shadow. The spikes suddenly began jutting out of the water in Shadow's direction at a tremendous pace.

Shadow is hit by the ice but used the art of substitution and placed Kira there instead.

'I warned you, didn't I?' Shadow said as spikes of sand slammed down on Kira as well.

Kira protected himself from the worst of the damage by forming a sphere of ice around himself as quickly as he could.

'Guh...'

One of the ice spikes had stabbed him in the gut. He removed it, and used more ice to seal the wound. He looked over at Shadow. His vision began to blur as he reached a hand towards Shadow.

_'There he is...I've got to kill him before I black out...'_

He made a gripping motion with his hand, and a spherical prison of ice surrounded Shadow. With the last of his strength, he closed his hand into a fist.

'Makyou Kyuu!'

The ice crushed in on itself, but only a little bit, not enough to seriously harm Shadow.

_'Damn...that isn't enough to kill him...'_

He suddenly had a coughing fit, and blood splashed from his mouth onto the inside of the sphere.

_'I can't do anything else...except get through this sand dome...'_

At that, Kira formed a ball ice in his palm and pushed it through the roof of the dome. Kira blacked out as pushed his hand through after it.

Shadow broke the ice around him with several well-placed punches. He dropped the dome and the sand collapsed on and around them. He drew a kunai from his pouch and ran over to Kira, stabbing him in the leg as he collapsed.

'Damn it… I thought I had enough chakra…' he though as his vision blurred and then blacked-out.

Raidou looked from one to the other.

'Due to wounds and loss of chakra, both combatants are unable to fight! Neither will progress to the next round,' he declared. The medical team ran to the two unconscious boys and lifted them onto stretchers.

'We will now take a half-hour recess so that the examiners may discuss the rearrangements of fights following this battle.' announced Raidou.


	13. Chapter 13 The Fourth Fight

'Woah, neither of them won,' Kyo said in awe.

Ralfe breathed a sigh of relief at the prospect of not having to fight either of them. Genma appeared behind them.

'Those two were extremely strong. Beyond the level of ordinary genin,' he said. He rotated his toothpick in his mouth.

'I'm going to see Rina in the medical room. You coming?' His students nodded and followed him from the stands.

In the medical room lay Shadow, Kira and Rina, who was just regaining consciousness.

'Uh... I lost...,' she said, crestfallen.

'You faught well,' said Genma. 'You have nothing to regret.'

'Really,' she said hopefully. 'Did I do well?'

'You were awesome,' replied Kyo cheerfully.

'Yeh,' agreed Ralfe, smiled.

'Did you win your fight?' she asked him.

'Yep. And Kyo's is next. We're just taking a time out after their fight.' He nodded towards Shadow and Kira in the next beds. 'They got a double KO,' he explained.

'You should try and recover some chakra before your next fight,' said Genma to Ralfe.'

'Don't need it. I've shown the examiners all my moves. There's not much more I could do to prove I have what it takes to become a chuunin.'

Kenpachi and Rukia followed the medical team down to the infirmary. There they found Kira, but the medics didn't allow them to wake him up. Kenpachi sighed, then turned to Rukia.

'You're the last one left in the tournament. Don't forget that this fight isn't just for your benefit. You represent the village of Mist here. Your victory shows the strength of the Mist as a whole.'

Rukia rolled her eyes at him.

'Don't get all scared just because you lost. If Kira can at least tie with the Sand's strongest, then I can certainly beat their second or third best.'

Kenpachi shrugged and looked away.

'_Gah. Why is she always so overconfident?'_

He looked back at her to find that she was already leaving to watch from the stands.

'_Well, I guess it's because she didn't show any of her moves out in the forest besides the Kirigakure no Jutsu...that should give her a definite edge in her coming fight...'_

He nodded, as if agreeing to himself. Then he jumped as Tsavong appeared behind him in a puff of smoke. Kenpachi turned to talk to him.

'How do you think he did?'

Tsavong studied Kira for a moment, then turned to answer Kenpachi.

'He did pretty well, but he didn't listen to the advice I gave him earlier...after that first trick with the Goukazame and Suikodan he went straight for the kill with every strike...oh well. He's definitely improved since he became a genin, but he seems to have hit a plateau...I'll have to talk to him about it after the exam.'

Suddenly Genma disappeared, only to reappear moments later, with a scroll in his hand. He unravelled it and showed it to them.

'The new match-ups. They had to rearrange them after both of the last fighters were beaten.,' he said.

**Fight D: Kyo vs Haru**

**Fight E: Ralfe vs Soni**

**Fight F: Rukia vs Winner of Fight D**

**Fight G: Winner of Fight E vs Winner of Fight F**

'It basically means that the winner of the next fight will progress to the final four, along with you Ralfe, the Sand nin Soni and that Mist nin Rukia over there.' He nodded towards the Mist cell.

'Hey Tsavong, the new match-ups are here.' He tossed the scroll over.

Tsavong caught the scroll in mid-air, studied it for a moment, then handed it to Kenpachi. Kenpachi took it in at a glance, then looked up to his Jounin leader.

'If Rukia wins her first match, she has a chance to go against that tactician from Konoha...' He muttered. 'That would be an interesting fight...What are her chances at becoming a Chuunin?'

Tsavong pondered that thought for a moment before responding.

'I'd say she's got a better chance than either you or Kira, but it all depends on how she handles her first match...'

Kyo and Ralfe returned to the competitors' balcony while Genma returned to his seat in the stands.

Raidou announced the next match: 'Would Kyo of the Leaf and Haru of the Sand come down to the arena?'

'Good luck buddy,' said Ralfe.

'Don't need it,' said Kyo with a grin, though they both knew that this would a hard fight. He walked down to the centre of the arena and faced his opponent.

'Begin!'

'Art of Pyromancy,' Kyo declared, creating a wreath of flame around Haru. He killed the flames with sand and slowly walked towards Kyo.

_'Just what I was afraid of, he can extinguish my fire with his sand.'_ thought Kyo. _'Looks like I'm going to have to have to use taijutsu for a while.'_ He drew out three shuriken and threw them at Haru.

A sand version of Haru rose up from the grpund and caught the shuriken. It smirked and hurled them back.

Kyo rolled to the side to avoid them._ 'How could he catch my shuriken?'_

He drew another shuriken and threw it, and then declared 'Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!' The shuriken multiplied into a hail of twenty shuriken. The sand Haru broke apart into a sand shield, blocking them all

Kyo focused his chakra to his feet and jumped high in the air. 'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!' Kyo shot many small balls of flame towards Haru.

Shadow sent sand flying at the firebals, extinguishing them. 'Shadow will be avenged, I plan to win this for him!' Haru said running forward throwing needles of sand at Kyo as he went. Kyo jumped to the side to avoid them.

'Oh, yeh? Well I plan to win this for Rina, who was beaten by your team mate.'

He landed and drew two kunai, threw one at the clone and ran towards Haru brandishing the other. The kunai struck the clone's face and was embedded there. He pulled it out and threw it at Kyo. It nicked his leg as it flew past.

Kyo continued to run, stabbing across the clone's face with the kunai in his left hand, simultaneously punching to its head with his right fist. It exploded in a cloud of sand.

'Ha, I got it!'

Suddenly Haru was behind him, swinging his fist into Kyo's neck.

A crack rent the air as something snapped.


	14. Chapter 14 A Violent Ending

A log snapped where Kyo had been a moment before, thanks to 'Art of Substitution'. Kyo appearred behind Haru, stabbing him in the back. 'Ha!'

A log appears in Haru's place. He had used the same technique as Kyo. The sand suddenly kicked up into a violent storm. Kyo retreated back to the arena wall. He drew a kunai in his right hand and two shuriken in the other, whilst trying to make out any shapes through the sand.

He then edged his way round the arena and after several minutes, found Haru hiding behind some broken trees. Kyo leapt into the air and concentrated his chakra to his feet, allowing him to stick to the wall.

'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!'

A hail of fireballs shot across the arena towards Haru.

Haru smirked and kicked the trees up and watched as they burnt into ash, then ran up the wall and kicked at Kyo. Kyo was ready and ran up the wall to avoid it, then jumped off and smashed Haru in the jaw with a kick of his own.

Haru flew off the wall, blood streaming from his mouth, but already had an explosive tag ready. He dropped above the spot that Kyo was likely to land. He landed on his back and skidded along the arena floor.

Kyo landed by the exploding tag which blew him high into the air. At the top of his 'flight' he overcame his dazedness and realised he would have to do something pretty drastic or he would be a goner as soon as he hit the ground. Quickly he whipped out three lengths of wire and tied the end of each to a kunai, and then tied one to either of his wrists and the third around his waist. As he fell he threw all of the kunai into the wall of the stadium where they were embedded, stopping his fall. He drew a fourth to cut the wire and he dropped to the ground, relatively unhurt.

He looked over at Haru and smirked.

'That all you got?'

Haru got up, coughing blood. 'That was only a sample.' Haru said as he waited for an attack.

Kyo drew a kunai and span it around his finger nonchalantly.

'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!'

More balls of flame shot from his mouth.

Haru threw sand up, putting the fire out, then jumped and landed in front of Kyo. He threw a series of punches at his opponent. Kyo parried most of Haru's attacks, but he was punched in the gut and was knocked back. He ran back towards him, stabbing at him with his kunai. It caught him on the shoulder and drew blood.

Kyo swung, stabbing at Haru's chest. More blood.

Haru threw all his weight into a punch, knocking Kyo down.

_'Neither of them can overcome the other,'_ thought Ralfe.

Haru's chakra started flaring out around him as he concentrated 75 of what was left of it into an attack.

_'Uh oh,'_ thought Kyo. _'If I get hit by an attack like that I'm dead.'_ He drew out two shuriken and waited for the attack.

Up on the balcony, Ralfe was anxious. _'These Sand nins are pretty strong. No wonder they made it through the forest so quickly; the levels above most of the genin that were in that exam. Still, Kyo is the strongest member of our team.'_

Haru ran forward and kicked at Kyo's chest. He was thrown backwards again. He got up slowly.

_'His strength has grown vastly. If I get hit many more times, I'm done for. But that technique must take up a large amount of chakra. If I can avoid it for long enough, he'll collapse.'_

Kyo looked around. There were no convenient hiding places in the arena as most of the trees and shrubs had been washed away during the previous fight. The floor was still damp which would stop him moving as quickly, or may cause him to slip.

He focused hid chakra to his feet and readied himself for the attack.

Haru walked forward and drew eight shuriken from his pocket. He threw them at his enemy all at once.

Kyo leapt backwards and landed on the wall, where he stuck using chakra.

'That all you got?' he asked, challengingly.

Kyo ran down the wall of the stadium and around the edge in a wide circle, as fast as he could. He drew two shuriken and threw them at Haru when he was behind him.

Haru ducked to avoid them. 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!' Five clones appeared.

Kyo jumped, landed on the arena wall and pushed off it with his legs, allowing him to do a sideflip towards the middle of the arena. He landed and as he slid to a stop, he threw a punch to one of the clones, destroying it.

Haru looked at Kyo and threw three shuriken in unison with another of his clones.

Kyo leapt over the shuriken and landed behind another of the clones. He turned, punching it in the head, and then ran to another, throwing a punch to its chest. They both disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'Alright! He's kicking ass!' yelled Ralfe exultantly.

Shadow walked out into the arena stands and watched Haru fight. 'Haru kill that bastard!' Shadow yelled. Haru nodded and attacked Kyo with his last clone.

Kyo blocked the clone's attack and destroyed it with another well-aimed punch. He then leapt backwards so that he was a few metres from. A smirk grew across his face.

'Gonna fight sreiously now that your boyfriend is here to cheer you on?'

Haru's chakra grew more intense. 'Shut up!'

'Just hurry up and attack me,' Kyo replied tauntingly.

Haru did a cyclone kick towards Kyo, who blocked it, but it was too powerful and he fell backwards. He immediately rolled back up and launched himself at Haru, arm extended into a lunging punch at his face. It hit him on the jaw, and both of them fell to the floor. The both got up and faced each other.

Haru jumped at Kyo, punching as he went.

'Henge no Jutsu!' Kyo was suddenly replaced with a log. He appeared behind Haru and punched him in the spine.

Haru went skidding across the arena floor in a cloud of dust. He slowly stood up.

'Don't think you've won.'

Haru summoned all his charka to his feet and charged at Kyo. His speed had increased dramatically and Kyo had no time to react. He was knocked back and Haru pinned him by the neck to the wall.

'Ugh…'

Kyo stabbed Haru through the arm with a kunai, then grabbed his wrist. With his other arm he struck upwards into Haru's elbow. A snap was heard as it fractured.

'Aargh!' yelled Haru. He drew three kunai with his good arm and stabbed Kyo in the chest.

He cried out in pain and spat forth blood violently.

As Haru raised the kunai for the kill, Genma jumped into the arena and grabbed Haru's upraised arm.

'Its over kid - you won.'

'The winner - Haru!' declared Raidou as Genma assisted the medic nins with getting Kyo onto a stretcher.

'_You did really well, Kyo,'_ thought Genma. _'You almost had him.'_


End file.
